Health Risks
and Side Effects
of Aspartame Artificial Sweetener

Food,
sodas and other items that
contain Aspartame

Aspartame
is an artificial sweetener
used in brand names such as
Equal and NutraSweet.
Aspartame is also used in
many of the most popular
diet sodas and other diet
beverages such as Diet Coke
and Diet Pepsi. There
are also many dessert foods
as well as sugar-free gums
that use Aspartame to reduce
calorie of the food.
As with every chemical, and
even most foods, there are
chances of having a side
effect or health problem
from Aspartame,
and those chances increase
the more you consume.

Health
benefits of
Aspartame

When talking about
an additive like Aspartame, it
is important to weigh the side
effects and the odds of having
a side effect against the
possible health
benefits Aspartame
provides. Three of the
leading causes of death are
cancer, heart disease and
diabetes. Obesity is a
leading contributor to each of
those causes of death.
While there are certainly
better options for weight
loss, switching from full
calorie to no calorie
sweeteners like Aspartame is
an appropriate step for those
who are overweight. This
is not a guaranteed cure
though, since studies have
shown that many people who
switch to Aspartame
diet sodas increase
the calories they obtain from
other sources.

The
great Aspartame
internet hoax and
conspiracy

Aspartame
became available to use in
the USA about the same
time the Internet became
mainstream. Because of
some misinformation and
misuse of scientific data,
this lead to an early
internet hoax
and conspiracy
campaign against
Aspartame.
This campaign is believed
to have been started by
the sugar industry, and
unfortunately, some of the
bad science and data is
still circulated to this
day. The facts
of Aspartame safety
are easily obtained by
peer-reviewed scientific
studies, but at times this
research has been twisted.
We will begin by
discussing the real side
effects of Aspartame,
and then there will be a
few comments regarding the
two major pieces of
misinformation regarding
Aspartame safety that is
still out there.

Side
effects of Aspartame
artificial sweetener

The most
commonly reported side
effects of Aspartame
are mainly
gastrointestinal issues
like nausea, diarrhea
and vomiting in extreme
cases. There are
other side effects that
generally involve the
loss of calories of
people who switch to a
non-caloric soda after
drinking high calorie
sodas for a long
time. These symptoms
of Aspartame
use include
dizziness, fatigue,
weakness, depression,
headaches and memory
loss. These
symptoms are similar to
those felt by people
starting a crash
diet. The body is
not prepared for the
sudden decrease in
calories.
Abdominal pains and
cramping are other side
effects that are
reported, and are
attributed to the fact
that Aspartame is not
easily absorbed into the
body and can irritate
the intestines as it
passes through the body.

False
side effects and
symptoms of
Aspartame artificial
sweetener

Aside
from these side
effects and symptoms
of Aspartame use
that are similar to many
other additives or
medicines, there are two
false side effects that
need to be discussed
that were used
extensively in the
internet hoax, they are
brain tumors and
methanol
poisoning. Without
a good understanding of
product testing and
basic chemistry, these
two issues may sound
serious, but they are
not.

Aspartame has
been claimed
to produce brain
tumors. This claim
is a misinterpretation
of testing done on every
product. New
products undergo many
tests before they are
allowed onto the
market. One of
those tests is referred
to as mortality
testing. If you
are an animal rights
activist, stop
reading. This test
is performed on a few
hundred animals, usually
rats. The test is
simple, you force the
animal to ingest large
amounts of the product
until they die. If
they don´t die, you give
them larger doses.
The purpose of the test
is to determine at what
level death will occur,
and then after
autopsies, the cause of
death is
determined. This
test is done on every
food, and always results
in the death of the test
subjects. In the
case of Aspartame, the
leading cause of death
was starvation.
Basically so much
aspartame was given that
the intestines could not
absorb other nutrients
necessary for
life. The second
leading cause of death
were brain tumors.
This test is the root of
all the rumors regarding
Aspartame and brain
tumors. The fact
is that no brain
tumors in humans has
every been attributed
to Aspartame.
The amount of aspartame
ingested by the rats
that caused the brain
tumors is nearly
impossible for humans to
ingest even if they were
eating the raw product
from a bowl.

The second myth
regarding
Aspartame
involves
methanol and
embalming
fluid.
In a
laboratory,
Aspartame can
be converted
to many of the
same
substances
used in
embalming
fluid. The
fact is the
other
chemicals
needed to
achieve this
process are
not found in
the
body.
The other part
of this is the
rumor that
Aspartame can
turn into
methanol.
This is
correct, but
so can every
fruit and
vegetable and
most other
things we eat.
Our bodies are
very capable
of dealing
with the
methanol that
is produced
when we eat
food, whether
it comes from
Aspartame or
an
apple.

Aspartame
health risks during
pregnancy

There have
been no studies that
have shown any
dangerous side
effects of using Aspartame
during pregnancy.
But like with all
food additives or
chemicals, it is
safer to avoid them
completely. It
is one of the
realities of
research ethics, it
is just very
difficult to do
large scale testing
on pregnant women.

Despite most of the
more serious claims
regarding
Aspartame
being false, there
are still plenty of
serious side effects
that can occur from
Aspartame.
They include many
digestive issues, or
issues related to
low energy
levels.
Aspartame has been
commercially
available in the USA
for almost 30 years
and claims of
brain tumors or
methanol poisoning
have never been
reported regarding
its use. The health
benefits of
Aspartame,
in most cases,
outweigh any health
concerns regarding
moderate use.
But as with all food
additives,
moderation is the
key with Aspartame.

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